The Man with No Star
by HecateA
Summary: One of Nico's earliest memories is his mother saving lives. Oneshot. Written for the Percy Jackson Ship Weeks, Slash Week! (2/6)


**So for those who didn't know, I'm a huge history nerd, so Nico and Hazel are two of my favourite characters to play around with- history, social shock, and things acquired in 1940. ****I'm not sure if this counts as a ship week story since there isn't an actual ship in it, but I got the idea while brainstorming for the Slash Ship Week and so I thought 'what the hey' and here it is!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own the di Angelo family, and I did try to look up Italy's history during the Holocaust to make this accurate. Padre Maria Benedetto is an actual person and a pretty big badass.**

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**The Man With No Star**

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Getting your memories back after years and years of absence and contact with the River Lethe was painful. They came to you in the middle of the night and in the form of migraines, as if blades were being shoved in your head as opposed to memories. They were emotionally draining and kept you on your toes. Nico knew firsthand. As Nico started remembering more about home, this was one of the first memories that came back to him :

* * *

_July 6__th__ 1943 _

Since they'd left Venice, Nico hadn't been sleeping well. He didn't like Rome. It was too big, it didn't have any canals and in this house he and Bianca slept in separate rooms and Nico didn't like that. But Mamma didn't let Nico complain about moving _ever. _She said that one day he'd understand. When Nico asked Papa he also said that some things were beyond him, but he'd get very, very soft. He'd touch Nico's hair and look at Mamma worriedly, as if to tell her something. Papa was very worried lately. He said that that was why he couldn't be at home as much, why he had to work all the time. Nico missed him.

He'd had a nightmare and wandered downstairs because he heard noise. He just thought that Mamma was awake, and maybe Papa had come home from his trip early. Maybe Bianca was there too, because there _was _a lot of noise.

Too much noise for three people… Nico tip-toed down the stairs and knelt on a step from which he could see the entire dining room. It was full of people, all whispering and huddling. More were pouring out the cellar door. What were people doing in cellars? Nico didn't _like_ the house but even he knew that there were nicer parts of it.

Mamma paced across the room, wearing a thick coat over the skirt and neat blouse that she had been in all day. Her hair was wet; she'd been outside. Did she often leave while Nico was sleeping? That thought made him afraid. The people looked afraid too.

"My daughter-" a woman said.

"Is with the friar," Mamma said, gently putting a hand on the woman's shoulder before straightening up. "Padre Maria Benedetto will arrive shortly with the new papers- make sure not to lose them. He will bring all of you to the port and you will leave for France as soon as possible. Make sure that you have everything that you brought here…"

Nico noticed that their coats all looked the same. Little yellow stars were sewn onto their arms.

"Quickly," Maria said. "Everybody, in here! _Padre Benedetto _cannot wait for anyone once he arrives, the boat leaves soon. If you miss it, you will be caught in the roundup… You must have courage. Trust in your god, I will trust in mine and we will make it…"

"Bless you, Signorina di Angelo," one woman with a strange accent said.

"It was my honour, _frauline." _Mamma smiled and clasped her hand before continuing to make her rounds.

"Signor Mucciarone," she said to a man standing aside. "You must get up. Do you have everything you need?"

The man nodded and sat up grimly. He looked like he was as old as Papa, except the lines on his face were much deeper- like little canals. His eyes were even murky, brownish blue like canal water. There was hair missing on the top of his head. There were blue marks on his face.

"France will be good to you," Mamma said patting his elbow and straightening out his coat.

Nico didn't see his star on his shoulder.

"You are sweet to say so Signorina, but I doubt it," he said grimly. "I am not like the rest of your refugees. There is nowhere safe for me."

Mamma bit her lip. "One day."

"One day," he said. "But don't let my cynicism downplay how much I appreciate what you are doing, Signorina. How much you are putting on the line."

"It is nothing," Mamma said.

"No. He seems very young," Signor Mucciarone said. He was looking at Nico.

Mamma turned around, following the man's gaze. Her face went pale when she saw him.

"Nico!" she said climbing up the stairs. All the people turned to look at him and he felt like he was hit on the side of the face. So many eyes at once…

"Nico, go upstairs," Mamma said. Her soft hands pushed against Nico's back as he got up. "Go upstairs and don't come out until morning."

There was a strange knock on the door. Everybody in the house froze.

"Go," Mamma said, tapping Nico on the back before rushing down the stairs. She crossed the kitchen, motioning for everybody to be quiet. She closed the heavy doors and there was another strange knock. It made Nico think of the special ones that he and Bianca used to say goodnight at night by banging on each other's walls. Mamma came in and said something quickly and suddenly all the people started leaving. Nico hadn't even met them. Once the house was empty, Nico did like Mamma asked and went back to bed. But he didn't sleep. He just sat in a pile of blankets.

It felt like hours before Mamma came back. Her hair was wet and she unbuttoned her coat in Nico's room.

"Hello _Tesoro," _she said. "You aren't sleeping?"

Nico shook his head.

"Where did you go, Ma?" Nico asked.

"Just to the docks," Mamma said. "Not very far, _Tesoro, _not very far."

"And the people?" Nico asked.

Mamma's smile faded a bit. She ran a hand through her hair and grabbed a bunch of hair at the back of her head, like she always did when she was worried.

"Nico, you and I are going to play a game, okay? A game where we pretend that we're super spies. How does that sound?"

Nico nodded.

"And those people are our big secret. So you can't tell anybody that you saw them, because our mission is to hide them."

"Where?" Nico asked. "Why? Are they playing a game too?"

"No, _Tesoro," _Mamma said. "They're hiding because some people want to hurt them."

"Is it because they're mean?"

"No baby, it's because they love a different god than you and me," Mamma said. "And because they worship this god, they are Jewish. You can tell because they're wearing _stellas _on their sleeves. There's a man called Hitler in a country called _Germania_ –a very mean man, Nico, an _imbecile_… and he and his armies want to get rid of the Jewish people, for no good reason at all. So some spies have decided that it's our new mission to hide them."

"Like you."

"Like me, like Padre Maria Benedetto, and a lot more," Mamma said. "I help Jewish people- only Jewish people. No criminals and no evil people Nico, okay? Remember that if someone ever tells you otherwise. But us spies can only do it if everything is a…"

"Secret," Nico finished.

Mamma smiled. "Exactly. Can you do that, baby? Keep the people with stars a secret?"

Nico nodded. "But I think you made a mistake, Mamma. One of the people there didn't have a star. The man that saw me."

"That's because he isn't Jewish," Mamma explained. "He needs to hide for other reasons."

"Why?" Nico asked.

Maria chewed her lip and sighed. "Because he doesn't love women, Nico, he loves men."

"And that makes him bad?" Nico asked.

"No, _Tesoro_. Not at all. It's just that... some people are mean, Nico. Some people hate good people blindly." Mamma said.

"But I thought you only helped Jewish people," Nico said.

"Usually. But a lot of people agree with this Hitler about how _this_ man is bad, and nobody else wanted to help this man," Mamma sighed. She took his hand in hers. "This is a lot of things to know and it is very late at night. Sleep a bit, okay?"

"Okay," Nico said. "Good night Mamma."

"Good night Nico."

* * *

_July 31 1943_

Nico didn't remember exactly why he was brought to America. He knew that Mamma was in trouble, and that Papa dressed Nico and Bianca one night while they were still half-asleep and brought them in what Bianca said was a chariot –but he said to call it a car. He drove them to the docks and Mama met them there, surrounded by three women wearing suits like men. They carried guns.

When Papa saw Mamma he wrapped his arms around her and kissed her on the lips, right in front of Nico and Bianca. He pressed Mamma to his chest, eyes closed and breathing deeply, and said something that sounded like a prayer.

"Mamma you're hurt," Bianca said.

Mamma pulled away from Papa and knelt in front of them.

"Not at all, Bianca. Everything is okay, _Tesoro." _

"Your lip is bleeding," Bianca said. Mamma touched her lip and rubbed it until the blood chipped off.

"It's nothing. See? All better."

"Alecto, Megaera, Tisiphone- thank you," Hades said. "As a last favour can I ask you to escort Maria and the children to Washington DC?"

He handed one of the women an envelope.

"These are the details of a hotel," he said. "Take them there. Maria, I know that you don't like Shadow Traveling but I have to be at Olympus _right now, _if I'm late Zeus would-"

"I know," Mamma said. She squeezed his hand. "You have done so much. Thank you."

Nico remembered Dad kissing Bianca's head and touching Nico's hair before he disappeared. Mamma picked up Nico and took Bianca's hand.

"We'll see him soon," Mamma promised. "Once we get to our new house."

"A new house _again?" _Bianca asked.

"It'll be very nice," Mamma said. "Closer to Papa's work. You'll like it Bianca. You'll see."

* * *

_August 5 1943_

Nico remembered that he _had _liked America. The hotel was nice (before it was blown up, anyways). He remembered that Mamma didn't work when they were in America, and she didn't like that but she played with Nico and Bianca a lot more. They often went for walks.

"Nobody's wearing stars here," Nico told Mamma one day.

"No," Mamma said. She smiled a bit. "Hitler can't touch the Jews here."

That sounded good. It meant that in America, all the good people were free.

"And the man without the stars? The man who loves men? Does anybody hate him here? Is he okay here?" Nico asked.

The smile fell from Mamma's face. That answered Nico's question.

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_Present_

So as you can see, this wasn't a particularly empowering, encouraging or helpful memory to have.

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**Upcoming ship weeks**

**August**

**10 - 16 **- Free slash week (author's pick of a same-sex story)

**17 - 23 **- Free friendship week

**24 - 30 **- Chris and Clarisse

**31 - 06 **- Jason and Reyna

**September**

**07- 13 **- Jason and Piper

**14 -20 **- Frank and Hazel

**21 - 27 **- Calypso and Leo

**28 - October 4 **- Percy and Annabeth


End file.
